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rosiejerryrosie
07-20-2011, 08:04 AM
A new day, a new forum. Need to get some discussions going here. What are your views? Is it better to crab or slip when landing with a crosswind? I prefer a crab myself - landing an airplane with one wing low just seems .... unnatural...

Greg Bockelman
07-20-2011, 08:18 AM
I land in a crab on a regular basis.:D

Chad Jensen
07-20-2011, 08:44 AM
I've used both, depending on the airplane, but tend to use a wing low more often. In tailwheel airplanes I always slip in a crosswind.

sdilullo
07-20-2011, 10:01 AM
I usually start off crabbed but transition into a slip before short final. Of course, if it's a relatively short final to begin with then it's pretty much all-slip. Especially in the Cub.

Bill Greenwood
07-21-2011, 01:13 PM
For those who like a crabbed landing, how does the plane cope with a touchdown in a crab? If it is a nosewheel airplane, you would be putting a side load on the nosewheel if it is not going the direction aligned with the runway when it touches. That might damage something, and is not going to be good for the wheel or tire. Maybe if you were really skilled you could crab when the main wheels touch, then get it straight until the nose wheel hits, but that would be hard.
If you touchdown in a real airplane like a Cub or T6 and you are in a crab, then the tailwheel is moving sideways and it is going to be a pro ground loop unstable situation, isn't it. Like crosswind from the left, nose crabbed to left into wind, so tailwheel hits moving sideways to the right, and it is pro ground loop, wants to move more right.
Seems to me a crab on final, especially in strong winds, but before touchdown align the nose with the runway and lower the upwind wing.
Better yet go to a runway into the wind.

steveinindy
07-21-2011, 01:20 PM
I'd personally love to have the type of landing gear they have on a B-52 with the "dial-a-crab" feature.

rosiejerryrosie
07-23-2011, 06:02 PM
[QUOTE=Seems to me a crab on final, especially in strong winds, but before touchdown align the nose with the runway and lower the upwind wing.
Better yet go to a runway into the wind.[/QUOTE]

Yep - you have the answer to your own question. Unless you are drivng an Ercoupe (whose wheels caster if landing in a crab) you must lower the upwind wing and 'kick' to airplane to line up with the runway just before touchdown. It takes good timing, but, to me, it is easier than holding the correct slip and cross control all the way down final.

redfox435cat
07-24-2011, 10:15 PM
A new day, a new forum. Need to get some discussions going here. What are your views? Is it better to crab or slip when landing with a crosswind? I prefer a crab myself - landing an airplane with one wing low just seems .... unnatural...

I do both. On final I crab to gauge the effect that the crosswind actually has on the plane then transition into slip to touchdown. I've tried just slipping but Lompoc always has a pretty bad wind shear and like to just crab through that wind shear.;)

RetroAcro
07-27-2011, 09:02 AM
Unless you're in an Ercoupe or an airliner, you should always be touching down in a slip in x-wind. How early or late you happen to choose to transition from a crab to slip doesn't seem like a fundamental difference in technique or an important distinction to me, even though this seems to be an ever-present neverending debate. To me it's about as (not) important as differentiating sideslip vs. forward slip...and no let's not start that. :-) I'm always slipping on approach (to see the runway) x-wind or not, so this isn't something I think about. But if I didn't, I would transition to a slip as I was rounding out for landing...not that there's anything wrong with slipping all the way down final in x-wind. I just think it's unnecessary if done only for that purpose.

Dana
07-27-2011, 09:30 PM
When I learned to fly (Parks College in the 1970s, in C-150s) they were in the business of teaching future airline pilots, so all I learned was crabbed approaches, kick it straight at the moment of flare. Seemed natural... until I went back home and got a rental checkout on a narrow strip where it was usually crosswind; the checkout instructor showed me wing down landings and it made lots of sense. Then I bought a taildragger... wing down landings in a crosswind are the only appropriate technique.

David Brown
08-02-2011, 09:06 AM
A new day, a new forum. Need to get some discussions going here. What are your views? Is it better to crab or slip when landing with a crosswind? I prefer a crab myself - landing an airplane with one wing low just seems .... unnatural...
I hate the slip! Unless the instructor wants me to slip, I'll crab every time!

drewgriff
08-04-2011, 08:47 AM
I'm new to this can someone define a "slip" landing and a "Crab" landing?????

Thanks

FlyingRon
08-04-2011, 09:08 AM
When landing in a crosswind, you have to correct for the drift on final. You can do this either of two ways, turn the aircraft into the wind in coordinated flight (crab) like you would in other flight regimes OR
bank the aircraft into the wind but hold the logitudinal axis of the plane parallel to the runway with the rudder.

There are advantages to both. In the long run, you must touch down in a slip anyhow (i.e., you need the plane pointed down the runway and no side drift), it's all a matter of when you make this transition.

The advantage of the slip is that you can get into that final orientation earlier which is easier for new pilots to learn frequently. Further, if you can hold it on approach, you can hold it on landing.
You may also need the additional drag.

On the other hand the crab, gives you more performance if you need it (flying coordinated is always better) and you may be able to land in stronger crosswinds for a couple of reasons:
1. Winds often lessen near the ground allowing you to track straight there even if you couldn't farther up.
2. You can sometimes get a little more authority kicking out due to inertia by straightening the plane at the last minute.

There's no "RIGHT" way. Both are tools that have advantages and disadvantages.

drewgriff
08-04-2011, 11:07 AM
When landing in a crosswind, you have to correct for the drift on final. You can do this either of two ways, turn the aircraft into the wind in coordinated flight (crab) like you would in other flight regimes OR
bank the aircraft into the wind but hold the logitudinal axis of the plane parallel to the runway with the rudder.

There are advantages to both. In the long run, you must touch down in a slip anyhow (i.e., you need the plane pointed down the runway and no side drift), it's all a matter of when you make this transition.

The advantage of the slip is that you can get into that final orientation earlier which is easier for new pilots to learn frequently. Further, if you can hold it on approach, you can hold it on landing.
You may also need the additional drag.

On the other hand the crab, gives you more performance if you need it (flying coordinated is always better) and you may be able to land in stronger crosswinds for a couple of reasons:
1. Winds often lessen near the ground allowing you to track straight there even if you couldn't farther up.
2. You can sometimes get a little more authority kicking out due to inertia by straightening the plane at the last minute.

There's no "RIGHT" way. Both are tools that have advantages and disadvantages.

Cool guess I'll learn more about it once I start my lessons. From the sound of it crabs best but I agree it sounds like slip has its advantages

Bill Campbell
08-04-2011, 09:09 PM
While I can do both, I prefer the slip. When I am sliding down the GS with the LOC centered, I just prefer to expect the app lights to be in front of me. So I do it the same way in VMC.

Bill Campbell
08-04-2011, 09:12 PM
I land in a crab on a regular basis.:D

Greg, have you tried pyrinate?:D

Frank Giger
08-23-2011, 01:03 AM
I love to slip!

Hangar10
08-23-2011, 11:01 AM
Slip!

Hank
09-08-2011, 11:41 AM
While I can do both, I prefer the slip. When I am sliding down the GS with the LOC centered, I just prefer to expect the app lights to be in front of me. So I do it the same way in VMC.

On an approach, I apply crosswind correction to center the needle [i.e., crab] as soon as I get lined up on the localizer/GPS signal. But I prefer VFR landings in a slip; so far, ceilings on instrument approaches have been high enough that the transition was easy [900' agl or better] at normal "final" altitudes of 100-200' agl. Gives a good feel for how well the landing will be to make the transition after turning final.

Turn final 500-600' agl, straighten out, check airspeed for proper deceleration, check the trees, transition to slip, check airspeed, check the trees, fine-tune slip, check altimeter vs. trees, finetune airspeed & slip, all the way down. Having VASI/PAPI lights when traveling is easier than looking for the runway number to clear the treetops at home--it's so nice to roll onto final and see the correct red & white lights!

Thomas Stute
09-09-2011, 09:47 AM
I think that a general rule cannot be given if crab or slip lanings are better in crosswind conditions. Besides the wind conditions it also depends on the airplane itself: low wing, high wing, large spanwidth, low gear, polar inertia etc.
In most of my crosswind landings I make a slip approach and this is what I teach my students on C172, PA28 and similar aircraft. The advantage is that they always are in line with thw runways center line. This makes it much easier for a student pilot and the average pilot to master crosswind conditions. This of course is not possible when you are flying open class gliders like the Schleicher ASW22 with a wing span of more than 20m and a very low gear.

Joe LaMantia
09-19-2011, 09:49 AM
Crab to Slip, or if it's really blowing all slip seems to work pretty good in the TriPacer. I tend to stay on the ground if it's really blowing hard and Jerry's right about finding a runway lined up with the wind, especially when it's beyond the crosswind component for the aircraft being flown!

Joe

jrees
12-17-2013, 05:26 PM
I've always considered a "slip", as a way to loose altitude quickly, yoke down and to right (ex.) with left rudder. Drops like a rock. A wing low approach is same, without the extreme down pressure on the yoke, plus more adjusting the wing into the wind angle with amount of rudder to stay straight. A wing low approach takes more time to get the hang of, but i've always liked it better than a crab. The crab never felt natural to me. Guess whatever works for you, but if you practice the low wing approach, after time you will probably use it instead of a crab.

RetroAcro
12-18-2013, 08:51 AM
A wing low approach takes more time to get the hang of, but i've always liked it better than a crab. The crab never felt natural to me. Guess whatever works for you, but if you practice the low wing approach, after time you will probably use it instead of a crab.

Ah this old gem, back from the dead. :-) Above is the real answer...whatever works and whatever you like to do. But IMO, there's no practical reason to slip all the way down final in any airplane. That is a way for instructors to give students extended practice at countering the x-wind, and to set up their approach such that workload is reduced in the final stages of the landing. But just because you may have been taught that as a student pilot doesn't mean you need to do that for the rest of your flying career.

A more professional way to do it would be to crab down final, and then make the transition to the slip during the roundout. It's more comfortable for your passengers since your'e in normal coordinated flight for as long as possible. Either way, you're likely going to be touching down in a slip. How late you choose to transition from a crab to a slip is purely a matter of pilot preference, skill, and comfort level. Some choose to start the slip at 700' AGL, others choose to start it at 7" AGL...and everywhere in between. This whole slip vs. crab debate is what you might call a false dichotomy. The actual touchdown is made using the same technique in most light airplanes.